The invention relates to hair curling irons.
Curling irons have been known for many years. They have been configured in various designs which have used electrical heating elements to heat a cylindrical surface around which hair is wrapped to apply a heat set wave to the hair. These curling irons also have a spring biased clamp, having a partial cylindrical section which engages the cylinder around which the hair is wrapped. The clamp facilitates curling of the hair by holding the hair firmly against the cylinder. The clamp is typically biased against the cylinder and arranged to be pivoted away from the cylinder by movement of a handle by the user. When the handle on the clamp is released the clamp engages the cylinder.
In the prior art curling irons, both the cylinder around which the hair is wrapped to produce curl and the clamp have been made from hard smooth substances, which have good heat conducting properties, such as metal. The use of hard smooth substances to make the cylindrical curling iron and the clamp, however, has a tendency to damage the hair because the surface is noncompliant which can cause strain and/or breakage of the hair. Moreover, the smooth surfaces of the cylinders and clamps of the prior art curling irons do not promote secure gripping of the hair between the cylinder and the clamp which has the tendency to permit the hair to slide off of the cylinder if the user's hair is long. These prior art curling irons also have the disadvantage of causing ridging of the hair. The ridging problem arises as a result of the hair being held in contact with a hot smooth cylinder for too long a period of time.
Several attempts have been made to avoid somewhat related problems that occur in the use of heated curling rollers by covering the rollers with a flocking material. The problems involved from the use of the curling irons are more severe due to the grasping of the hair between the clamp and the cylinder. The problems with the curling irons, however, remained unsolved.
Flocked curling rollers are disclosed in U.S. Pat. No. 4,202,360 to Walter and U.S. Pat. No. 3,888,266 to Weldon and in French Patent Nos. 1,254,562 and 1,377,552.